Over 120 Palestinian inmates infected with COVID-19 inside Israeli jails

A Palestinian human rights group says more than a hundred Palestinian prisoners have contracted coronavirus inside Israeli-run detention centers across the occupied territories, expressing grave concern over the health condition of the inmates.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said in a report that eleven Palestinian detainees had tested positive for coronavirus in the Gilboa prison in northern Occupied Palestine.

It added that the new infections brought to 123 the number of Palestinian inmates diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The news came on the same day that a Palestinian prisoner suffering from laryngeal cancer passed away following a sharp deterioration in his health due to medical negligence.

Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, said 46-year-old Kamal Abu Wa’er died on Tuesday, condemning his death as a premeditated crime committed by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and holding Israeli authorities fully responsible for his loss.

Abu Bakr noted that the IPS was fully aware of the seriousness of Abu Wa’er’s health condition, but it ignored numerous calls for his release.

He said such a crime demonstrates the failure of the international community and relevant institutions to hold Israel accountable for its violations, warning that the world’s continued silence on these practices will embolden the Tel Aviv regime to continue perpetrating crimes against Palestinians.

Hamas: Zionist entity commits war crimes against Palestinian prisoners

Meanwhile, the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement denounced Israeli authorities over the death of the cancer-stricken prisoner.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said in a statement that the death shed light on the exercise of deliberate medical negligence by the Israel Prison Service.

Qasem noted that the death of Abu Wa’er brings the number of Palestinian prisoners who had died in Israeli jails since 1967 to 226.

“This means the Israeli Occupation perpetrates a calculated war crime against the (Palestinian) detainees in Israeli jails,” the Hamas official said.

Qasem went on to say that the IPS deliberately violates international laws in dealing with the Palestinian prisoners and is exercising a “bullying policy” towards them.

He underlined that the Palestinian nation and resistance movements will continue their unflinching support for prisoners until they obtain freedom.

SS